You'll Never Know What They Have Up Their Gildersleeve
by Bob Andelman (January 22, 1996 "Mr. Media" column)
There's little the Media family enjoys more than listening to classic old-time radio shows such as The Shadow or Fibber McGee & Molly. It must be Mr. Media's advancing age.
Now we have stumbled upon a cable TV show that's just as much fun: Remember WENN, a 30-minute original sitcom airing every Wednesday night on American Movie Classics.
Remember WENN is WKRP in Cincinnati time tunneled back to Pittsburgh just before World War II. It is everything the recent George Lucas movie Radioland Murders dreamed of being and more: behind the scenes in a radio station that cranks out soap operas such as Valiant Journey and adventures such as Amazon Andy all day with three actors juggling the parts as well as a little mayhem.The dialogue between the characters, whose on-air lives spill into their off-air lives, is smart and quite funny.
"I was buried in thought," says the station's new intern, Betty Roberts.
"Yes," says tart-tongued actor Hilary Booth, "and I'm sure it was a shallow grave."
And:
"How many words can you type?" tippling scriptwriter Eldridge [sic] asks Betty.
"Oh!" she replies. "So many kinds!"
Then there's the "Man of 1,000 Voices," who often asks the director, "Who am I now?"
Patti LuPone, who originated the role of Norma Desmond in the stage production of Sunset Boulevard, guest-stars in an upcoming episode. The series was created and written by Rupert Holmes — that's right, the guy who, among other more noteworthy achievements, gave us "The Pina Colada Song." But don't let that deter you from a charming, intelligent series.
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